Avoiding scams: How to spot misleading claims sites 

When something goes wrong and you need to claim on your insurance, it can feel stressful and may leave you in a heightened state of emotion. Sadly, that might leave you more susceptible to being scammed, as criminals often prey on those in vulnerable positions.

Fraudsters are increasingly targeting people looking to make a claim on their insurance with misleading claims sites, using online ads to draw them in. 

What are misleading claims sites?

Misleading claims sites are websites that intentionally imitate an insurer or broker’s website, offering claims support. They mimic the appearance and design of the real site and use the company’s name to trick policyholders into thinking they’re in the right place to make a claim directly with their insurer. In reality, these sites are operated by third parties and are not affiliated with the insurance company that they appear to be.

Why are there misleading claims sites?

You may wonder why a third party would set up one of these sites. The goal is to successfully imitate the insurer or broker to fool people into using the site to make a claim on their insurance, which they then charge the customer for. However, if the policyholder were to make a claim directly through their insurer or broker, there would be no fee for the claims support.

Be wary of online adverts

These misleading sites may be being promoted online, so be cautious when clicking on online adverts or searching for your insurance company using a search engine. Similarly to the sites themselves, the adverts often also impersonate insurance companies by mimicking their design, using their logo and name; this adds to the illusion that the site is legitimate. This practice is known as ad spoofing.

How to spot a misleading claims site

Being able to identify a misleading site versus a genuine one can be challenging as they’re often very convincing, however there are some telltale signs that you can look out for. Remember, being vigilant is the best way for you to protect yourself.

Pay attention to the domain name

Every website has a unique name, its domain, which functions like its address; it is the part of a web address after ‘https://’’ or ‘www.’ and before ‘.com’ or ‘.co.uk’, for example. Misleading claims sites will often use domains that, upon first glance, might appear to be the official domain of the company they are imitating. If you take a closer look, you might notice inconsistencies such as extra letters, added dots or dashes, or different endings to the site address. Always check your insurer or broker’s domain and compare to ensure you’re on the correct site.

Look out for mistakes and inconsistencies

Legitimate companies take pride in their website and its content, ensuring that spelling and grammar is correct, thorough information is provided, images are high quality and there is visible branding (such as logos and brand colours) across the site. Keep an eye out for mistakes and be cautious if anything feels different to your past experiences on a particular company’s site.

Check the copyright information

Websites should display up to date copyright information in the footer, right at the bottom of a webpage. Check this to make sure the content is copyrighted to the company that you expect. Certain misleading sites might also contain a disclaimer to state that they’re not affiliated with the insurance company, but this will likely be somewhere that it’s easily missed.